Day and Night
by nurrrna
Summary: Naruto finally returns from his three year training. As he and Hinata get closer, Tsunade calls them on another long mission as bodyguards for some girl. Hinata feels threatened as she feels Naruto drifting away. NaruHina ? NaruOC ? Read to find out
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! I'm ba-ack! (Hey, stop playing that Jaw's theme song) I apologize for taking so long, but honestly, I was out of ideas. Writer's block is a beeeeeeach. Like my two previous fics, I had to wait patiently while a golden idea struck me. Inspiration can come from funny places; mine came from a bag of sour patch fruits. Okay, enough with my blabbering. I hope this fic will follow the steady trend that's been going on; each of my fics just gets better and better (according to the reviews). So, enjoy! Hope you like it :

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, ya da ya da ya 

Chapter One: In the rain

She was standing in the rain, leaning against a pole. _The pole._ The one where he had talked to her, and changed her the day of his Chunin Final Match. She liked coming here; if she closed her eyes, she could almost smell his scent. Or it might just be her imagination. Hinata mentally did some calculations in her head; he had been gone for two years now…To Hinata, it seemed like a lot longer than two years. Every second felt like an hour.

Her whole body seemed to melt into the wood, and they looked like one. The pole stood strong against the whople of her weight, resting against its sturdy reassurance. Her hands wove around the back of the pole, where they were clasped. Her feet were pointed towards each other in a shy, subtle way. What was it she was supposed to do when it rained?

_Flashback_

Hinata stood by the gates of Konoha, hugging a tree. She looked on from her hiding spot. Kakashi picked Naruto up by the armpits and twirled him around like a little boy. His face turned green and his eyes became little swirls.

_Sakura rammed Kakashi out of the way with her man power and squeezed him so hard that his eyeballs poked out of her head. Kiba rubbed his fist into Naruto's head, which provoked him into a state of extreme animalistic rage. Sakura pounded him on the head to stop him; his rampaging was causing clouds of dust to cover them._

_Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Lee, Shino, Tenten, and Neji each said good bye in their own separate ways (Tenten game him a very warm, motherly hug while Shino just nodded) before turning around and leaving. Naruto looked at them sadly for a second before breaking out into a huge smile and jumping up while waving._

_The white haired Sanin tapped his foot annoyingly. "Hey brat, let's get going! How many more friends could you have? I'm getting tired of waiting!"_

"_Just wait, Ero-Senin! I think I left some ramen at home."_

"_Wait! Are you kidding, that's enough to feed that one 'big-boned' friend of yours! And I told you, call me Jirai-"_

"_Yah yah, what ever. Just go without me, I can catch up." Naruto started batting his eyelashes at him._

"_Ew, sick!"_

"_I'll do my Sexy-no-Jutsu for you!"_

_There was a cloud of dust that Jiraiya left behind. "Meet me at the halfway mark by noon, or I'll call the toads to look for you!"_

"_Alright, alright! Just get out of here."_

_Hinata leaned against the trunk of the tree. What could he possibly be waiting for? It couldn't be more ramen; another bowl, and he would topple over._

"_HEY HINATA!"_

_Hinata flew from the tree and landed on her cheek. Her legs twitched in the air._

"_Woa! Sorry!" He picked her up by the arm. They stood there, awkwardly, just looking at each other._

"_So why didn't you come out? How come you're just staying behind that big tree?"_

_Hinata felt the heat rise into her puffy red cheeks. "Ano…you see…well…I tried-" She stopped abruptly as she felt something cold on her forehead. _

_Naruto tilted his head back, letting the rain pour into his mouth. "N-Naruto-kun, what are y-you doing?"_

_GargleSplishSploshGurgleSplash_

_She gave him a weird confused look. Naruto swallowed and ran around in the rain like a little boy (well…technically, he is still pretty young…he's only 12 D:)_

"_Come on, try it, Hinata!" She looked a little uneasy._

"_I remember someone told me that the rain purifies you. It's supposed to cleanse your inner…something. If you tilt your head back, like this, and let it fall into your mouth, it'll renew you." He scratched at the back of his head. "I can't remember who told me though."_

_Hinata smiled gracefully. She brushed aside the wet strands of pair covering her eyes. "You're g-going to get s-sick." Naruto flashed her a thumbs up._

"_Uzumaki Naruto never gets cold!" His teeth would've pinged, but they just weren't as bleached white as Lee's and Gai's. He coughed._

"_W-When…when are y-you…coming back?"_

"_In about three years. I'm going to get strong…and hopefully grow." He took a kunai and slashed at the tree about a foot above her head. "I'm going to be this tall! You'll see."_

_She doubted he could grow a whole foot, but she had learned a long time ago that nothing was impossible with Naruto. He kicked at the mud with one foot and shoved his hands in his pockets. For the first time, he looked a bit uneasy. "Well…I better get going, or the pervert will lose his head…"_

_She absentmindedly twiddled her fingers. "G-Good bye, Naruto-kun…" She mumbled something that was drowned out by the rain. He leaned his ear towards her mouth. His wet hair tickled her nose. Hinata closed her eyes; she would have to remember the way it felt…for three years._

"_What was that?"_

"_I'll grow strong too, Naruto-kun…because…"_

_She had to fight the urge to ran away and snuggle under her covers with Mr. Ru bear. "…you make me want to get stronger…"_

_He gave her a genuine, subtle smile that etched itself into her memory. Hinata felt warm in the rain, even though she was soaked to the bone. Even hours after he left, she stood there, hugging the "Naruto" tree._

_End Flashback_

Hinata pushed her wet bangs out of her eyes. Slowly, she tilted her head back until it was resting against the wooden pole, and closed her eyes. She breathed in the cleansing fragrance that always accompanied the rain. As the drops of rain pitter-pattered onto her porcelain face, slowly, she opened her mouth.

The rain fell into her mouth. Hinata felt a tranquility wash over as the drops of rain that collected into her mouth threatened to overflow. Like Naruto had down, she swallowed them down along with her doubts and worries. She opened her mouth again.

And that was how Neji found her; with her eyes peacefully shut, and her head bent towards the heavens. He could've sworn she was asleep if not for her open mouth. Neji stood her, giving her a weird confused look. Hinata opened her eyes and looked at him. A small laughter filled her eyes.

"The rain purifies you. It's supposed to cleanse you. If you tilt your head back, like this, and let it fall into your mouth, it'll renew you, too."

Neji nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps another time. Hiashi was getting worried."

"Okay."

As they walked back in a comforting silence, Neji looked up towards the sky as the drops fell onto his eyelids. Maybe…one day, he would walk with her in the rain. And they, too, would let the rain fall down on them, with their heads bent back, and their mouths open wide.

"Hinata, why this spot."

"Because I like it." Kiba grumbled while he spread the cloth over a grassy little hill. Hinata took a sandwich out of a woven basket and sat herself in front of a large tree, nibbling happily on the sandwich.

Shino pushed his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose and looked up at the mighty tree. His eyebrows rose slightly when he saw a slash on the tree. It was clumsy, and crooked. Like a child's. And, about five inches down, was a similar mark, only it was much neater and straight.

Kiba followed his gaze. "What's up with the tree? Are there like squirrels in the area?" Akamaru barked angrily; he hated squirrels. Hinata simply shook her head, smiling on the inside. Shino decided not to bother him with an explanation.

After eating a cheese hamburger (more like twenty…), Kiba was starting to get bored. He made Akamaru fetch logs and boulders, but that too grew tedious. He saw Shino sitting down with his knees brought up. His elbows were resting on them. Kiba's gaze wandered to Shino's sunglasses, which glinted in the sun. "Hey, how come you never take those off?"

He blinked (er…from what they could tell). "There's only one person who's seen me without them."

"Let me see!"

Shino's eyes (from what they could tell) flashed dangerously. "I would, but then I'd have to kill you."

"Kiba pouted. "So, who's the person?" Shino tilted his head towards Hinata.

"Really! Tell me Hinata, what's he hiding behind them?

Hinata's eyes rolled over to the tree, and rose to the two lines carved into the trunk. A smile played across her face. "Some things…are just better left unexplained."

This chapter is just about Hinata waiting for Naruto. It'll get to the part in my summary, so don't you worry! Give me an R! Give me an E! Give me a V! Give me an I!…and so on…

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What does that spell! R-E-V-I-E-W! O Don't she shy; praise me, flame me, bore me with your mindless babbling!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey gang! I'm glad to see that someone is reading this : I promise, it won't sound quite as cliché as the summary made it out to be. The thing is, I couldn't really add more to the summary. It would give too many things away. So yah, I hope you understand that. Thanks to all the nice people who read/reviewed :

**Disclaimer: Why must you force me to torture myself by saying that no, I don't own Naruto! D:**

Chapter Two: Fade Away

He was running. He was running fast. Hinata watched with anticipation as the dust rose wherever Naruto went; it was the only indication that he was even there at all. He was running too fast to see. Hinata watched as he stopped below her while she waited on top of a cliff. This was the moment she had waited so long for…he was coming home.

"Naruto-kun!"

"Jump, Hinata, jump! Come in my arms! Pappy Naruto will catch you!"

Her cheeks burned with a dozen shades of red. "J-Jump?"

He had his arms spread wide open, flapping them enthusiastically. "Yes, jump, Hinata! I'll catch you, I promise! That is my way of the ninja!" Hinata inhaled deeply and closed her eyes tightly. She jumped off the cliff into a little ball. Her bangs flapped wildly in the wind. Hinata felt herself being picked from the air by two strong arms. She opened her eyes, and found herself staring into the ocean: his eyes.

The alarm clock yelled at her to get up. A little chibi Neji danced around, squealing, "Wake up Hinata! Wake up Hinata!" Hinata groaned and knocked it over, wiping the grogginess form her eyes.

It went crashing to the floor. "Ow."

Hinata threw the covers off of her and brushed her teeth. As she thumbed through her wardrobe, she felt something spontaneously inside of her. Today, for some reason, she felt like wearing something a little different.

After clawing the contents of her closet, she decided on a white tank top that Tenten gave her as a hand me down, a short black skirt she had gotten as a present from Ino, and knee-length black leggings that Sakura bought for her similar to her own for "twin" day. Hinata let her shoulder-length hair down and stepped out the door.

The streets were abnormally quiet; the air seemed heavy around her, making it hard to breath. The sleepy village of Konoha snored as it curled itself under the sheets of sunshine. She reached the street where she was meeting her old teammates. Hinata was about to round a corner when she stopped involuntarily, skidding on her heels.

Her body stopped moving. Her systems seemed to shut down, as Hinata felt her mouth flap open. It felt dry and salty. Her eyes were like baseballs: big, round, and white. She inhaled when she realized she was panting heavily.

He was there, right in front of her, talking to her teammates. Hinata gasped; he had grown. _A lot._ Hinata tried to memorize his height, so she could compare it to the tree. His face had lost most of its baby fat (much to her disappointment). He looked more masculine. His boyish figure was gone; Hinata felt the sweat trickle down her nose. She tiptoed back around the corner and pressed her back flat against the wooden wall.

Did he even remember her? It had been three years…she wouldn't blame him if he forgot; most people did. Hinata felt almost stupid for thinking about Naruto every waking moment; it was all in vain. She couldn't do it. She just couldn't face him.

Hinata turned on her heel to leave when she bumped into a wall. "Oof…" She didn't remember a wall being there. Then she realized…it was irrational for a wall to be built in the middle of a street. Hinata rubbed her head and opened her eyes.

It took every ounce of ninja training Naruto had to call upon the quick reflexes that he needed to catch Hinata before she hit the ground. His arms enclosed around her.

Pinching herself, Hinata finally confirmed that she wasn't dreaming; Naruto was hugging her. Hugging, as in pressing her face into his wall-like chest, and wrapping his arms around her. Naruto starting jumping up and down, causing Hinata's hair to get disheveled.

"Hinata-chan! I almost didn't recognize you! Look at you, you look great!" He took a step away from her ( : ) and brought his fingers up to his chain in deep thought. He snapped his fingers. "You grew."

"N-Naruto-kun…" The name aroused an array of different feelings within her. _"Naruto Naruto Naruto."_ She missed the way it rolled off of her tongue.

"Hey, we have to visit our old friend! Bye Shino, later jerk!" Her two baffled teammates blinked in confusion as Naruto dragged an unkempt Hinata by the wrist.

Her cheeks flapped against the speed and velocity they were going at. Keep this up, and her feet would be reduced to little nublets.

But, of course, it didn't matter. Hinata felt like she was skipping on fluorescent clouds, with cheesy music playing in the backgrounds. The skin where his large fingers enclosed her wrist felt warm for the first time in three years.

When Naruto stopped suddenly in front of a familiar clearing, Hinata bumped her nose into him. Rubbing it, she looked up ahead of her. A grin spread across her face immediately.

"Check, Hinata!" Naruto pressed his back against the tree and stood as straight as a board in contrast to his normally slumped over posture. Hinata walked over and examined it. She frowned; the line had disappeared.

"Ano…Naruto-kun?"

"So, did I make it!" The excitement in his voice was causing part of her heart to break.

"I-I don't think this is the r-right tree…"

"Nani?'

"The mark…I can't see it…" And then it hit her. Hinata almost slapped herself. She couldn't believe she didn't get it sooner. Naruto quirked an eyebrow at her sudden giggling.

Hinata had to tippy toe as much as she could to reach the top of his head. She flattened his wild, spiky hair and laughed. "Yep, it's there!"

"So did I reach it?"

"Yes."

"YEAAAAAHHH!" He started doing a very…_energetic_ victory dance that caused a few children in the distance to cry.

Naruto stepped away from the tree and looked at it with affection. His eyebrows creased slightly when he noticed there was a slash under his. "What's that line? Is that how short I was before?"

Hinata cleared her throat a few times. "Um…no. You were actually…m-much shorter." Naruto chibi-cried.

"Then what's that?"

"That is h-how much I wanted to g-g-row. Because I want to grow…like…you."

Naruto was still Naruto. He didn't get the very un-subtle hint she was giving him. He put his hands on her shoulders and moved her in front of the tree. She oozed like melted butter at his magnetic touch. His voice brought her back to the surface world. "Let's see if you grew!"

He looked down at the top of her head. "D-Did I?"

Naruto shook his blond head. "Nope, but you're only about half an inch under." Hinata seemed to deflate at this.

"But hey! I like girls short. Because it makes it easier to do this."

He sneaked behind her and hugged her from behind, one arm around her neck, one around her shoulders. Naruto nuzzled the side of his cheek on the top of her head. Hinata hoped he wouldn't pull away when he felt how hot she was getting. She was dangerously close to burning his hand like a skillet.

"Hinata-chan…" She loved it when his voice got all low and serious. She realized just how much she had missed hearing it, and missed him in general.

"Y-Yes?"

"I missed you." He felt her nod her head under his chin.

She let her stiff back loosen up, and leaned all of her weight onto him, which wasn't much. Hinata brought her hands up and gently ran her fingers over his hands, back and forth. Closing her eyes, she breathed in his familiar signature scent; nature, with a hint of pork ramen.

"AHEM!"

Hinata and Naruto snapped out of their nice fluffy moment when they heard a throaty, manlike voice interrupt them. They froze.

A thick, busty, middle-aged woman with a horrific artificially colored red beehive-hairstyle had a sinister expression on her face. Her mustache prickled with anger. Naruto and Hinata's eyes were twitching vigorously. Before that day, they doubted anyone would ever look as weird as Gai. They immediately retracted their comment looking at this woman.

"EXCUSE ME, this is a family-oriented park! Please refrain from your disgusting, raging teenage hormones! There are children in the premises!" Hinata winced at the spit that speckled her face with every "p" sound the large woman made.

There was a small boy and girl sitting a few meters from them, covering their eyes. The little boy whispered to his sister, "Is it over, is it over?" The little girl poked her eye open through the slits in between her fingers.

"Yah, it's over, you can open your eyes now."

He let out a sigh. "Thank goodness, cause this hot sauce on my fingers were really burning my eyes."

"Baka…"

Naruto untangled himself from Hinata and shied away slowly. He grabbed her hand.

"AHEM!" He quickly dropped it; being eaten by a large woman with an outdated haircut was not in his agenda book. He and Hinata took a few steps back, then ran at a full sprint.

After running for a good few minutes, Hinata's suppressed giggles erupted, filling Naruto's ears like chimes in the wind. It was a hearty, twinkly laugh, something he had never heard from her before. Or anyone else, for that matter. He felt her infectious laugh take over as he heard himself roaring along with her.

They ran, giggling and roaring, all across Konoha, without a care in the world.

…That is, until Naruto got hungry.

He stopped and collapsed onto the floor, wriggling his legs. "Hina-chan…"

She gasped as she kneeled next to him. "N-Naruto-kun!"

"Come…closer. I can see the light…"

She had a priceless worried look on her face. "What is it?"

"I…need…" He motioned for her to come closer, until her head was right next to his mouth. "I need…food."

Hinata's face was dull. "Food?" Was he kidding her? She sighed as the moment was ruined and trudged along to Ichiraku. She was slumped over.

Naruto did his signature scratch-the-back-of-the-hair-obliviously. "Eh?"

Hinata played with the tips of her hair while she waited patiently for Naruto to finish his twentieth bowl of ramen (the old man had run out of noodles). One of his hands were fiddling a pair of wooden chopsticks like a pro, while his other hang limply beside him.

She gulped audibly (though Naruto couldn't hear over his thunderous slurping). She tugged at her collar and stared at his empty hand without blinking. Involuntarily, the hand closest to his started twitching.

"_No no…I mustn't. Especially not in public."_ Hinata tried to stop herself, but she ended up edging closer to Naruto until they were sitting side by side. She concluded that he was so preoccupied eating that he wouldn't be able to tell if she hammered a nail into his hand. Holding his hand would be harmless, right?

Taking a deep breath, her trembling hand crawled its way over to his and stayed there for a few minutes hesitating. Oh, the things she would give just to hold his hand in hers. _"Okay…but just for a little while!"_ Her hand was inching closer to his, until they were only centimeters away.

"NARUTO!"

Hinata shot her hand back like a viper. She felt herself get red with shame. What had possessed her to think such a ridiculous thought? She downed her water and got up quickly. "I have to go." She ran from Naruto, ran straight past Sakura who had walked in, and ran away from her fears…

Have you ever have that gut-wrenching feeling where you just chickened out of something, and missed the opportunity of a lifetime? Have you ever felt that every waking moment of your life? Welcome to the lfie that is Hyuga Hinata...

I might have an update tomorrow. If I know anyone is reading. At lats one person; that's all I need to know. Some people pull that "until I et this many reviews I'm not updating," but I think that's not very nice. So as long as I know one person is reading, that's enough for me. Thanks again:


	3. Chapter 3

The story will turn in a slightly different direction after this chapter. More relating to the summary. I should probably mention, this fic also deals with Hianta's struggle to break out of her comfort zone, and overcome her insecurities. Okay I'm done.

**Disclaimer: Naruto ain't mine, ya hear?**

Chapter Three: What it is to Fly…

Her feet left two long, straight impressions in the ground as they dragged across the woodchips. The swing went back and forth in a depressed fashion; Hinata's feet dangled limply below her swing. Her gaze wandered and settled on the lone swing across the street from hers.

She could see it; a lonely little blond boy, swinging madly, with that foxy grin of his. Hinata found Naruto to be very peculiar; in those days, he was truly alone. No one would give him the time of day, unless they were saying something cruel. Yet he still found a reason to swing high on swing; a reason to _live._

Slowly, Hinata pushed off on her swing timidly and started pumping her legs, back and forth. Looking at a young Naruto swing across the street from her, she could feel herself pumping more and more energy into her legs, until she was furiously swinging back and forth. Like him. Maybe, someday, she would go so fast that she would swing over the top.

A lively, spirited aura started to crawl up her spine. Usually, she would drag her feet into the ground until she slowed to a stop. But today, she didn't feel like waiting. Gripping the chains a little harder, Hinata prepared to jump from her swing. Which was a pretty reckless decision, considering that she was going fast enough to land on the moon.

Hinata pushed herself off with her arms and felt herself catapult through the air. She was sailing too fast to feel fear, or anything else. The only thing she felt was the wind weaving through her fingers.

Naruto was walking aimlessly when he spotted someone swinging a few yards away. Wow, by the looks of it, this person was an expert. A pro, even. He stood there for a moment, admiring the way her hair swiveled freely behind her. It only took him a few minutes (hey, give him a break!) to identify her; not many people had indigo-blue hair.

His eyes widened in shock when he noticed the way she braced the chains; she was going to jump. At her speed, she would be lucky to walk away with a few broken limbs and a dislocated shoulder or two.

Naruto ran towards the swing and waited until she went back up. He dashed under her swing and went ahead as fast as he could. Turning back, Naruto let out a sigh of relief when he saw that he would be able to catch her in time. As Hinata plummeted towards his Naruto, Naruto opened his arms wide and prepared to catch her.

Hinata didn't even notice that he was there until he spotted a fleck of yellow below her. Her back stiffened. She tried to halt herself, but it was impossible. She was going to fall, and pummel Naruto.

He caught her perfectly in his arms. "Woa woa woa!" He twirled around once because of the impact of her fall.

She laughed. Naruto decided that he liked in when she laughed. Her usually pale, white face was red with excitement (and embarrassment) as she tossed her head back and laughed.

"Want to go again? I'll catch you." She hopped down and raced towards the swing, kicking her legs up in excitement. Naruto ran after her and started pushing her swing with so much force that he nearly knocked her out of the swing.

When she felt that she had gotten high enough, she jumped out of the swing. Naruto took that as his cue to run under her swing and turn around to catch her.

Her peals of laughter echoed through the air. She sailed into his arms, and he spun around like last time.

"Again!" Hinata felt like a little kid again, making friends with strange kids she met in the playground and swinging like you were best friends.

Hinata jumped twice more before Naruto stroked his chin. "You know, it's not very fair. You get to have all the fun while I slave away, pushing and catching you." She blinked a few times in thought. "Do you want me to catch you this time?" Naruto shook that mental image away.

"Nah, no one could catch my ramen gut." He pinched at the imaginary fat on his stomach. "I have a better idea!"

He ran towards one of the swings and started going like a mad man. Hinata followed suit. "How is this going to work?"

Through his roaring laughter, Hinata barely made out his words. "See, we're going to jump at the same time! And, while we're falling, I can catch you and then land. It's perfect; we both get to jump this way."

"B-But…what if you can't catch me. Or what if you can't land? You could get hurt."

He swatted her questions away with an arm. "I, Uzumaki Naruto, can do anything! Just trust me on this. You'll see!" Hinata looked at him from the side and had to admit: she admired his childlike carelessness. She took in a deep breath and pumped her legs harder to catch up to Naruto.

When they were in sync, Naruto calculated that this was high enough to really get them some air. "Hinata! On the count of three, jump!"

As he counted, the numbers echoed inside her head.

"One…" She tightened her grip on the chains.

"Two…" Hinata leaned forward."

"THREE!"/ _"Three."_

They both shot out of their seats. They flew upwards in the opposite direction, so that the formed an "X." They went higher and higher up until Hinata could've sworn that she saw a few birds flee away from them for their lives.

She could feel herself, for that one split second, suspend in the air, with nothing holdring her up. Just her and the sky. Time slowed down as she felt the eventual tug f gravity that brought her falling down towards the earth.

Hinata looked around frantically for Naruto. He wasn't to the left, he wasn't to the right, and he wasn't below her. She looked above her.

The sun seemed to radiant from him; he shone like day amid the dark sky. Naruto realized that she was falling a lot faster than him. He leaned forward to try and ctach up, stretching out a hand.

The outstretched hand seemed to draw her towards it. Extending her body as far as it could go, Hinata felt her fingers brush against his fingertips. He grabbed her hand and hoisted her up. She grabbed at his sides as he put his arms around her tightly. They went hurtling downwards, spinning in the air.

As the ground came closer and closer, Naruto stuck his feet out in front of him. He started spinning around horizontally to slow them down. When his feet connected to the ground, he had to lift Hinata off of her feet and twirl around a few times to get rid of the momentum.

You're probably aware of the fact that Naruto isn't the most graceful of people. In fact, he tripped over air on a daily base. So it was physically impossible for him to avoid the rock that was in his way.

They went tumbling down a hill. Naruto was fully aware of the rose bushes at the foot of the hill. He put one arm around Hinata's head, and another around the small of her back to protect her. As they rolled downward, Naruto got many cuts and scrapes from twigs and branches.

Hinata opened her eyes when they slowed to a stop. She picked herself off of Naruto and gasped. The rose stems around him were sinking into his skin. The ground was damp and red where his blood had spilled on it. Hinata wasted no time in pulling him up and grabbing the healing salve from one of her coat pockets.

Naruto tried, many times, to convince her he was fine. But Hinata would have none of it. She sat him down like a little kid and rubbed the salve into his cuts and grazes. He pouted and winced like a little boy. She smiled despite herself.

After dabbing the blood off of her own face, she rubbed her ointment onto her cuts. There was a particularly large scrape on her back that had torn through her coat that Hinata's arms couldn't reach. In her vain attempts, she ended up spreading the healing balm all over the back of her jacket. She took it off and tried to maneuver around her black tee shirt for the scrape. Naruto chuckled a little at the sight.

He walked over to her and took the container away from him. He gently smoothed it into her cut with his index and middle finger. To Hinata, it was more intimate than if he would have kissed her.

After shaking off her blush, she found her voice. "That was fun." The grin on Naruto's face took up face of his head.

"Yeah, it was!"

"Yo."

They both whirled around. Hinata didn't have anything personal against Kakashi, but she cursed him for showing up at that moment.

"What happened to you children?"

"HEY! Just because you're old, doesn't mean we're children, old man!" Kakashi patted Naruto's head.

"Down boy. Sit. Stay." Naruto growled. "Tsunade-sama wants you two."

"Nande?"

Kakshi shrugged. "Who knows? Just go there." Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but Kakashi was already a mile with his nose buried into that stupid book.

Naruto got up and started walking towards the Hokage Tower with Hinata ambling alongside him. They decided without words to take their time. Naruto propped his hands behind his head: a sign that Hinata had connected with him being comfortable. It made her smile.

They got to the staircase and walked up slowly. Naruto brushed past the guards nonchalantly as Hinata bowed to them and walked by. The Chunin guards nudged each other in the ribs and winked at her as she walked by. She sweat dropped and quickly ran towards the door.

They knocked and walked inside. When they got in, they saw that Tsunade was still picking the papers off of her face from when she had fallen asleep. They simultaneously sweat dropped.

"Oh. You're here. Great."

"What do you want, Obaa-chan?" She was too tired to impale him.

"I'm assigning you two to a long-term bodyguard mission."

"Where?"

"The Wave Country."

"YYESSS! I CAN VISIT OLD MAN TAZUNA AND INARI!" Hinata and Tsunade poked their fingers into their ears.

"I know you've only been back for three weeks, Naruto. If you don't want to-"

"Of course I want to! They have my bridge!"

Hinata cleared her throat. "How long is it, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade smiled. She liked that Hyuga. Much quieter than the blond brat. "Could be anywhere from three months to one year."

"Nani? Who has that kind of money?"

Tsunade patted the eighteen-carat diamond necklace hidden snuggly beneath her shirt and smiled. "N-Nevermind that! Just, go pack! I suggest packing somewhat heavily, seeing as you can be gone for as long as a year. Dismissed!" She shooed them out of her office and looked suspiciously to the left and o the right. When she confirmed that no one was near, she brought out her diamond necklace, with matching earrings and cuffs. As she laughed manically, the gold fillings in her teeth shined in the sun.

"I'm rich! I'm rich! No more gambling debts! No more collectors! I'm the queen. No, even better! I'm the Hokage, damnit!" She danced on her desk powerfully, snapping it right down the middle.

Naruto and Hinata stood before the gate. "So…I guess this is it." Hinata nodded. "What ever happens happens, right?" He patted her on the shoulder.

She placed her hands lightly on top of his and nodded. "What ever happens now…"

And so the story continued! It's 11:35; I'm going to got o my cave and have a bear-sleep. Bye, beauitfuls. Nothing says I love you like a review :)


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to all the nice people who take the time to review  Heeheehee. So far, since this fic is still newish, I have no complaints with the amount of feedback I get. It's not quite as good as my previous fic, but hey, that's the way things go, right? I'm still satisfied that I have the amount of readers I do now. Thanks again! You guys rock :D

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…well…okay, I don't.**

Chapter Four: Conflicting signals

The black silhouettes of the trees closed in on them as the setting sun burned a bright, fiery orange. Hinata tightened her hold onto his neck as he continued to hike up a steep hill.

She felt slightly embarrassed that she couldn't keep up with him. She was always weak…

"We just need to get on those boats, and we'll be in the Wave!" Hinata nodded. He lowered her to the ground and got into the boat, holding out a hand to help her in. No matter how many times he touched her, she never developed immunity to it. Every time, it felt like the first time he held her hand, all over again.

Naruto scrunched up his brow. He remembered the thick fog that had surrounded the little village. Now, the sun was shining, the skies were clear, and the water glittered under the rays of sun. It was a lot…happier that when he remembered it.

As they got closer to the Great Naruto Bridge, Hinata and Naruto's jaws dropped simultaneously. Engraved in the side of the bridge was a large carving of Naruto. He donned a pair of "bad-boy" sunglasses, looking very, very _cool._ A large mass of girls were huddled, snapping pictures of his image on the bridge.

There was sheer and utter silence when the girls saw who was on the boat. Their rabid, hungry stares were causing a very bad feeling to crawl up his spine. "Oh…Shit."

It was like the rolling of thunder; their rampaging steps shook the little boat he and Hinata were in.

"OMG! It's Uzumaki Naruto! The guy on the bridge! Let's steal his clothes!" Naruto gulped. He quickly grabbed Hinata by the wrist and ran. She wasn't complaining; there were enough girls to reduce her to a bloody pulp.

As he and Hinata ran away from the stampede, someone wearing a black hooded cloak looked on curiously.

Naruto was breathing so hard that his nose was on fire. Man, those girls could run. He questioned why the wave country had no shinobis, because these girls would make one hell of a ninja.

When he and Hinata were about to collapse, a hooded figure grabbed both of their arms, and pulled them through a wall.

They were too exhausted to question how they had passed through a thick brick wall. Naruto looked up at the hooded figure.

She reached up and removed its hood. Naruto's face took on a look of surprise. It was a girl, about one or two years younger than him. She had medium length jet-lack hair, intriguing gray eyes, and a small spiral pattern on her neck that just barely reach the bottom of her jaw line. Naruto noticed with a start that the pattern on her neck matched the one of his stomach.

There was a large, jagged sword strapped across her black cloak. She wore a white shirt under it with a pair of black shorts that stopped at the tops of her knees.

Hinata looked at the girl; she was definitely pretty, in her own unique way. Her stare roamed over to Naruto's face.

His blue eyes shined with admiration, and he looked at her in a way that was different than how he had looked at anyone else. To this day, he never looked at anyone the same way as he looked at her. And it made her sad…

The girl looked at her fingernails. "Blond boy with whiskers, blue eyes, and a weird obsession with orange. Girl with dark blue hair, white eyes, and big clothes. So you must be my bodyguards. To think…I hired two 'first rate' ninjas who can't handle some stupid girls."

Naruto's mouth closed as he boiled with anger. "Hey, what do you expect us to do? Start slaughtering them?" She gave them a blank look that said, "Duh." He sweat-dropped.

Hinata cleared her throat. The silence was getting too awkward, even for her. "So, what's your name?"

"Tai."

"Oh."

Naruto gave her a funny look. "Don't you want to know our names?"

She answered by reaching into one of her coat pockets and flipping through it. "Page….71? No. Page…20…109…5461? Ah, page 436. Here it is." Without looking away from her book, she pointed at Naruto. "You're…Uzumaki…Naruto." Hinata noted that the way she said his name was peculiar…almost affectionate for the dark, stoic girl.

Her index finger settled on Hinata. "And you are Ms. Princess Hyuga Hinata." She didn't like the way Tai said her name…not one bit.

Scratching the back of his head, he eyed her large sword (think Cloud from ff7) with fear. "And…why exactly do you need us…for a YEAR?"

Tai looked at Hinata suspiciously. "Are you two dating?"

Her cheeks burned, but she glanced at Naruto hopefully. What would he say?

"N-No. We're just friends." Hinata felt those two words being branded in her forehead; she was scarred.

The dark-haired girl nodded thoughtfully. "That's what I thought. You two make an odd couple."

Hinata's eyes narrowed, but only for a fleeting second. It was enough for Tai to see, but not Naruto. "You're odd looking…" she muttered quietly.

"What was that?"

Hinata blinked innocently (which she is totally good at). "Hm? I didn't say anything."

Tai's silvery gray eyes squinted at Hinata. "I'm watching you, female."

"Arawareru no Jutsu (Materialization technique)." Two sets of eyes whirled towards the brick wall, while one silvery pair rolled.

Naruto started stammering like he saw a ghost when one hand appeared through the brick wall. Mah muh muh mah, mah muh muh mah!" Hinata just gasped.

The hand soon became an arm, then two. It wasn't long before a hand poked through the wall and smiled at them. "Hello, children!" A jolly, red haired seventeen-ish year old strolled through the wall and waved at them. He noticed that Naruto had passed out, while Hinata was backing away from him. His smiled disappeared. "Was it something I said?"

Tai threw a rock at Naruto's head to wake him up. When she saw that he was awake, she was speaking v-e-r-y slowly, like the way you talk to a three year old. Or an incredibly stupid person. "Let me explain this to you the best I can!" Her eyes were big and wide, trying to get him to understand. "You," she pointed and Naruto and Hinata, "are my bodyguards! For me! SO no sleeping on the job. My wallet suffers heavily for your mediocre protection."

The red head threw his head back and laughed manically. "Oh, I get it! These are more Stone-nins! Oh, man, I remember the last batch we fought. They weren't the brightest. No wonder why they got scared of my technique." He clutched his sides from the intense laughing.

Hinata quirked an eyebrow at him. "Um…we're not Stone-nin. We're from Konoha."

"Oh!" He went over and shook Hinata's hands enthusiastically. "No wonder why you're so h-I ment good looking! Because you're from Konoha! Oh, I get it now! I guess you tree huggers don't really use these kinds of jutsu!" He laughed again.

Naruto and Tai glared at him. "Baka…"

"Oh, excuse my rudeness! Doh, how could I forget to introduce myself? Heeheehee." He broke out into laughter again. Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "My name's Kibatsu." He leaned towards Hinata. "And what's YOUR name?"

Hinata stared at his wriggling eyebrows. She was reminded of worms. "H-Hinata…"

Naruto glared at him. "What's wrong with him?"

Tai stopped him with her palm. "Don't ask; I'm working on a novel."

"I see why…"

As Hinata trailed alongside Naruto, she felt something flap its wings inside of her. Something she wasn't used to. This new girl Tai and Naruto seemed to click right away, while it had taken her years of work to convince Naruto she wasn't the weird, freaky girl he thought she was. This feeling, it burned in her throat, and clawed at a mental image of Tai.

Hinata vaguely remembered a look on Ino's face when Sakura had pushed her out of the way to talk to Sasuke. Although his voice was cold, he didn't pull away. He stayed put, right where he was. Hinata felt her face contort into a similar expression, and she knew what it was called now…for the first time, Hinata felt…

Jealousy. 

Naruto glanced towards Hinata, who had allowed herself to fall behind him a bit. He, being Naruto, didn't have a clue why. Naruto tried to recall the speech Shikamaru had given hi about woman after hours of begging him.

_Flashback_

_Shikamaru sighed as he went over the material for the third time. "Naruto, it's really not that hard."_

_He scratched at his head. "But there are too many rules." Naruto started counting them on his fingers, but he lost count after two._

_Shikamaru went over to a wall and slammed his head against it. Why him? Why did he have to be blessed with such extraordinary intellect?_

"_I'm going to try to say this in as simple a way as possible, Naruto. Are you listening?" He snapped his figners._

_Naruto tore his gaze away from a butterfly nearby. "What? Oh yeah! Sorry. Okay. GO!" _

_The wind from his voice blew Shikamaru's hair away. "The bottom line is: women like attention. They don't like it when you talk to another woman. Even when they have zero interest in you." He curse under his breath, something that involved the word "Ino."_

"_Anyway…they get jealous. And then they maul each other. All women are sensitive. Even if they have beast-like strength and instincts." He cursed under his breath again, this time involving the word "Temari."_

_Naruto blinked twice._

_End Flashback_

He was about to ponder on what the heck that stupid Shikamaru meant when his ninja instincts kick in. Naruto bended backwards so that an expertly thrown kunai grazed the surface of his jacket.

Kibatsu looked stupidly at the direction of the kunai. "Whoa. That was a good one."

Tai started barking to him about staying alert. Hinata felt something too fast for her to detect move in on her. It swerved by her, then whirled around and kicked Kibatsu in the jaw. He grabbed it. "Owie."

Kibatsu got into an offensive stance and brought out two black knuckle blades. Each one was half the size of Hinata's height. The bottoms were jagged, like a lightening bolt.

"Hitosashi Suzume no jutsu (A Dance of Sparrows)." As he slashed at Neji, his blades crackled with thunder. The sound of the thunder reminded Naruto a lot of Kakashi's Lightening Edge. He then turned all of his attention towards dodging all of the kunais that rained down at him. Naruto noticed with surprise that the kunai's struck the ground at where his vital spots would have been if he didn't move. He only knew one person with precision like this…

Neji had to activate his Byakugan to dodge the attacks that flew at him in swift, fluid motions.

Hinata got in between them, and the fighting ceased. She gave Neji a funny look. "Neji-nii-san? What are you doing here?" He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hokage-sama gave me a mission here."

"Yeah, more like threw it at you to get out of her office." They turned their eyes towards the bun-haired brunette happily twirling a kunai around her finger. Naruto pouted and cross his arms.

Hinata recalled the way Kibatsu wriggled his eyebrows suggestively and narrowed her eyes at Neji. "Were you spying on us?"

Neji turned off his Byakugan and looked at her innocently (xD). "Who me? Spying is undignified for someone of my stature."

Naruto seat-dropped along with Kibatsu. "I'm guessing…you're the scary older brother."

Tenten shook her head. "No, but close. Scary older cousin is more accurate." He nodded.

"HEY, then what was with the kunais, Tenten!"

She chuckled evilly. "Just messing with ya." She went over and rubbed her knuckles into Naruto's hair, making it even more wild looking.

"OW, OW OW!"

Tai looked at the bizarre scene before her and sighed. This was why she hated people; they always brought along more pesky people.

Neji and Tenten waved to them. "See you little rascals back in Konoha!" She looked over at Neji. "Come on, _hoonney _"

Neji's cheeks burned red at that stupid name and quickly jumped into the trees. Tenten giggled. "That always gets him to leave. How good am I? Bye Hinata, make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble! Bye…other people!" With a final wave, she jumped into the trees after Neji and disappeared.

While Naruto walked on obliviously with his hands tucked behind her head, Hinata did some calculations in her head.

She replayed the way Kibatsu held his own against Neji at least fifty times. His stance, the technique, his speed. They were enough clues to tell Hinata he was no amateur. And she even detected that he was holding back. Whoever he was, Hinata was sure he was more than enough to protect Tai, whom Hinata was sure could put up quite well.

What ever the case was, one thing was clear: They hadn't been called out here because they were needed as bodyguards…

I know how some of you feel about OC's, but they're important to the development of the plot. I already have a good idea of what direction this is going in. I even know the ending chapter; I just need to transfer it from here points to head to here points to computer Thanks for reading. And remember..V-day is coming up. _Nothing says I love you like a review ;)_


	5. Chapter 5

Hey all :D Now…I just want to let you guys know…don't stop reading because you don't like the pairing. Whichever way things go, everything will be explained. Everything! I know that's ambiguous, but you'll understand it all in the last couple of chapters. It'll all come together. Pay close attention to details. If you catch on, pm me please so as to not spoil it for others. I'll give you a prize!…as soon as I think of what it is!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…at least, not in _this_ world! Heeheeheeheehee!**

Chapter Five: Stay with me…

Tai stopped in the middle of a nice clearing. The far away sound of a bubbling river flowed into Naruto's ears, ushering in a sense of tranquility within the quiet trees. Hinata looked at her questioningly.

"My house is still a day's walk away, and if you haven't noticed, it's dark. I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Goodnight, princess." She brought out a small can with a label that said "Tent-in-A-Can." She threw it onto the floor. In its place was a large house-like tent that could accommodate for at least seven people. "Pick any room you want. I don't care." She disappeared through the tent.

Naruto shrugged as he and Kibatsu did the same. Hinata looked up at the large canvas "building." It really was big. Inside of it, she felt small and useless.

She settled into a room and snuggled under the blankets, suddenly too weary to change out of her clothes. Out of nowhere, he felt her cheeks get red, and her pulse quickened. "N-Naruto-kun?"

"Hey, is that you Hinata?" He heard her nod against the tent. He smiled "guess we're neighbors."

"Uh huh…" The silence enclosed on them awkwardly. Hinata leaned against the walls, and tried to breathe in his scent. Naruto felt himself snuggle in closer as well. They were each snuggled in their blankets, side by side. "Good night, Naruto-kun."

"Good night…Hinata."

Tai tip-toed through the tent without making a sound. She made two sets of one-handed hand seals and slammed her left palm into the wall of Hinata's room. She woke up with a start and looked around.

"Keibaku no jutsu (Contraint technique)." Hinata, and everything else in her room froze. Time stood still in there. Tai hurried; she didn't have much time.

Using Arawareru no Jutsu, she seeped through the canvas walls like liquid. The luster of her blade gleamed through the tent. Naruto cracked open one of his eyes discretely.

Tai floated over to where Naruto was "sleeping" and inhaled. After only a few moments of hesitation, she went in for the kil.

Naruto flipped over onto his back and kicked her in the side. She crashed into the wall and slid down. Naruto brushed himself off and looked at her. "So you too…"

"Me too what?"

"You've come to kill me."

"Obviously."

"Why? Because you hate me? You think I destroyed your family? Because I am the Kyuubi?"

Tai blinked. "The what? I have no idea what you're talking about. But you are half right; you destroyed my family. I don't know you, but I already hate you. You've never known the things I've experienced in my life."

Naruto smiled wearily. He lifted his shirt and pumped chakra into his stomach, exposing that familiar spiral pattern branded onto him; like he was an animal. "Because of this…I have no family. I've never had one, and I never will. What is the love of a parent? I don't know. I don't know what you're talking about…but I can only say one thing. Be happy you even have a family, even if you don't anymore. Because it's something no one can replace…not even friends."

Her dull, gray eyes widened and glittered with life for the first time he could recall. "Y-you mean…you don't know who your family is?"

"No…I don't."

"But…you're always so happy. I thought someone like you had one of those picture perfect families." Tai recalled all the times those perfect families passed her by on the streets, without giving her a second thought.

"Well…maybe I'm not as happy as everyone thinks. I still am; I just think, someone out there suffer more than me. So for them…I have to be happy."

With a clatter, Tai's blade dropped to the ground. Tears of hard work and determination went down the drain. Her purpose of clinging pathetically to life. Searching for someone who she thought ruined her life turned out to be just like her. As that one purpose for living slipped out of the corners of her eyes as tears, Tai felt truly empty and alone.

She felt warm as Naruto leaned in and gave her a hug. "I'm here for you…" He didn't know why he did it; she was a little girl he had just met. But something told him to do it. His instincts told him to like this girl. And he always trusted his instincts.

Tai grabbed onto him like a lifeline and let the tears flow freely. It didn't matter that she was being emotional and weak. It didn't matter that she was soaking the collar of his jacket, or that her nose was probably running. All that mattered was that for the first time in her life, she felt something other than emptiness, loneliness, and hate. She felt…love.

It felt different. But it felt…nice.

As the constraining jutsu wore off, Hinata felt herself melt against the ice. She collapsed onto the floor covered in sweat. No matter how hard she had tried to fight it, she was stuck. She couldn't move or scream. It was even hard to breathe. Hinata rubbed her cold arms.

"I'm here for you."

Hinata pressed herself against the wall at the sound of his voice. Activating her Byakugen as quietly as possible, Hinata look towards his room.

She felt numbness stab throughout her body. Did Naruto use that jutsu to keep her away from him? She didn't know anything anymore more.

A lot of thoughts registered in Hinata's head. Should she storm in there and break it up? She sure as hell wanted to. Should she just stab the other girl a good few times? That sounded good. Should she at least say something? it couldn't hurt.

But she did none of those things. Instead, Hinata snuggled deeper in her blankets and wrapped them around her protectively. Hinata liked it better when she was shyer; you never got hurt that way. As sadness spiraled through her, Hinata detencted a touch of something else thrown in. Ah, good ol' jealousy. And as they say, jealousy isn't pretty on a girl.

The expression she wore was far from her usual pretty face.

Naruto and Tai walked in the front, in silence, while Kibatsu and Hiata walked along behind. There was some understanding between them; something she didn't know. Perhaps he didn't trust her anymore.

She tried to look away. Of course, it didn't work. Hinata felt herself ball her hands into tight fists. The way Naruto looked down at her so affectionately. It was a way he had never looked at her. All those days they spent sitting in the grass, or at their favorite tree, or even on a mission, just staring at each other in comfortable silence, seemed like a lie to Hinata.

Like it never even happened.

Sure, they had never _officially_ stated that they had something more than friendship…but there were times when his eyes said it all. Something deeper than a simple kiss, or a hug. But maybe it all just was a lie…

Kibatsu looked at her from the side. "Are you alright? Your face is really pale…like your hands. And your legs. And your neck." You put his right hand on his forehead, and his left on hers. "Ow, you're hot! I mean, not in that way. Hot as in, warm. Well, you are the other kind to. Very hot, in fact. But, in this context, I mean hot as in warm. Like warm soup. Or as in-"

Hinata couldn't make out the rest of her babbling. The throbbing pain in her forehead threatened to pop out from under her skin. Her hot skin prickled under the cold wind. Her head started shaking, and her vision blurred. Everything was swirling into patterns that gave her a headache. She grabbed at her head.

He turned towards her quickly. "Hinata, are you okay?" It caused Naruto and Tai to turn around.

She lingered on his image; that, she saw clearly. Everything else went black as Hinata let go of consciousness.

As her body went limp, she lost her footing and slid down. Naruto cursed; she was second from falling into a wide, steep chasm. Tai's eyes widened as Naruto's eyes took on a slightly redder hue, and his whiskers darkened. He didn't waste a second. Kibatsu and Tai stayed behind. They both knew it was something Naruto wanted to do.

Her motionless body descended in a graceful way. Naruto jumped into the chasm without a second thought. As he saw Hinata falling beneath him, he was reminded of the time, when they were riding swings. That day, when they were falling, and he held out his hand to her.

No matter how hard Naruto tried to make himself fall faster, she was always a little out of his reach. Just like last time, he held out his hand, praying he could reach her. "Hinata…I need you to reach out to me…come to me…" 

The wind flipped Hinata onto her back, so that she was facing Naruto as she fell. Naruto wasn't sure if it was the wind that had lifted her limp hand up towards him, or if it was somewhere deep within her conscious. Either way, he was just glad it happened. Pivoting himself to reach maximum velocity, he reached for her outstretched hand and touched it.

As soon as he did, he knew it would all be okay. Her hand felt soft in his. Holding onto her was all the answer he needed. Naruto pulled her in closed and held onto her. He wrapped his arms around her head, protecting her for whatever came.

The blue river underneath them sparkled as it came into view. He breathed out a sigh of relief; if it wasn't for the river underneath, he couldn't guarantee that Hinata would live, even if he landed on the ground. The river came closer and closer. Naruto squeezed her tighter until he was almost choking her; he didn't want the currents to wash her away.

"Stay with me, Hinata…" 

The water was ice-cold. Bubbles of air trailed out of his mouth as he yelled. The water was colder than he thought it would be. Naruto clawed at the water with one hand until he broke surface, gulping down large breathfuls of oxygen.

Hinata's eyes snapped open. The cold water jolted the life back into her; it felt cleansing to her. The first thing she noticed was that there was something fastened firmly but gently around her neck, and her head was resting on something hard.

She looked up to meet his eyes. Seeing him so worried caused a pang of guilt to strike inside of her. She had endangered both of their lives, and over nothing. He smiled down at her, his wet her falling into his eyes.

"Thanks for staying with me."

She held onto him and let the currents carry them away.

Well, that's all for now. I'm already working on the next chapter, so be on the look out for it! You better!…please? >:0)can't resist that face, and i know you can't either. Happy Valentine's Day!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey my beautilicious readers! So I've been reading your reviews regarding the pairing. I just realized that someone is going to go home unhappy. Well, that sucks because reading these should make you happy, or have some positive affect on you. I'd like it if you guys continued to read, even if you disagree with the pairing. Thanks :D

**Disclaimer: Must I?...Fine...I don't own Naruto** - - 

Chapter Six: Relapse

Hinata sat by a fire, drawing Naruto's spare jacket closer around her. Naruto sat on the other side, feeling the warm flames against his back. They both had their backs to each other to spare each other some embarrassment. Hinata picked up a stick and poked at her wet clothes, drying on a log by the fire. Thankfully, Naruto's jacket was big enough for her to stick her knees into it.

Even if he wasn't looking at her, Hinata refused to sit in nothing but her undergarments.

Naruto rubbed his arms. "Hinata?" His voice sounded hoarse and awkward.

"Yes?"

"Are you…okay?"

Did he mean physically or mentally? She deduced it as the first, and was able to answer honestly. "Yes."

"How come you just fainted out of nowhere? Do you have a fever, or something? I guess it was pretty hot out today."

"Yes…it was quite warm in the afternoon."

"Hinata?"

"Hm?"

"Are you really okay?"

"…I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I said I'm fine, Naruto." In the water, holding onto Naruto, she felt all of her foolish feelings flood into her. But only for a second. She wouldn't let them interfere. She was on a mission after all.

"I feel like you're avoiding me."

"You're probably just imagining it. I have no reason to avoid you."

"But…I can feel it. I know…we're not the same."

"What do you mean? We're still friends now. Isn't that what we always were?"

"I don't know…" He turned around so that he was facing her back. His orange sweater was having the life out of it. Oh well, Kakashi was always telling him to burn those putrid orange sweaters.

"I just wish you weren't avoiding me."

Hinata whirled around angrily. "I said I'm NOT!" She finally stopped to realize what he was wearing; nothing except his undergarments and a pair of black shorts. Then she realized what she was wearing…er, lack there of. She quickly turned back around to hide her furiously blushing face.

"I'm not…I'm going to bed. Goodnight." She left without a word.

Tai whistled from her hiding spot. "Trouble in paradise?" He shot her a glare and turned to the side a little. She put her hands in front of her defensively. "Easy, loverboy." She took a seat opposite from him.

"I have a question."

Her gray eyes glittered like silver in the light on the flames. "Shoot."

"Why did you make this out to be a year long mission?"

She picked through her teeth with her pinky nail and thought. "I know how you Konoha ninjas get. Once someone's missing, they send out those annoying MIA squads. I don't want trouble; I just need-wanted…to get something done. If I killed you, they wouldn't find out for a year. I could be halfway across the world by then."

"What about Hinata?"

"Well, Kibatsu would have probably killed her off to keep her quiet." She rolled her eyes. "If he stopped gaping at her, that is."

Naruto's eyes glared at her intensely. "So you just kill random, innocent people?"

Her eyes wandered away. "Hey…it's nothing personal. You have your problems, I have mine." She studied his profile.

"Do you love her?"

"What?"

"I said…do you love her?"

He sighed, and looked exhausted. "I thought I told you this already. I'm done answering that answer."

She rolled her eyes again. "Yah yah, I know. I just want to make sure…"

He brought her into a small hug and patted her hair, messing it up. She hissed at him.

OO "Whoa."

"Yah, don't mess with me! I have a sword!" She roared at him.

"Yah, sure. I can take you any day."

"Yah, like when I'm suffering from heavy blood loss, maybe. But even then, I can still take you."

"What! You couldn't beat me if I let you take the first hit."

"What ever. I don't need your pity and-Oh My Goodness Is That a Bear!"

"What? Where!" Naruto spun his head around, looking for a ferocious brown beast. But he couldn't find one…

"Hya!" She butted the handle of her massive sword into his jaw. Naruto spit the blood out and glared at her.

"Cheater."

"Hey, you offered me the first hit, big shot. Unless you're getting scared…"

"Oh, it's on, young man!"

She slashed at Naruto with impressive speed for such a heavy sword. "Hey, not too shabby runt." Tai puffed up her chest.

"Hey, I'm only a year younger, you old fart. And I can't say the same about your rusty movements."

"Ha! Give me everything you got."

"…Don't cry. It's so pathetic."

"Nanatsu-Kiritsukeru Ouda (Seven-Slash Strike)." Naruto's eyes bulged out of his head as a little warning flag waved above his head. He had seen her use that once on a tree; you couldn't even call its remains woodchips.

Wasting no time, he formed a few hand seals. Even as he made the seals, his body recognized the jutsu. A translucent blue layer started to spread from his hands like a plague. "Chakra-Hada no jutsu (Chakra Skin Technique)." The rest of his body was instantly engulfed into the blue chakra. When the entirety of his body was covered, a red spot erupted from his stomach, spreading to the rest of the blue until Naruto looked like a fiery human torch.

And just in time to. His whole jutsu took only half a second, but that was cutting it pretty close. By then, Tai's monstrous sword was looming above him. He quickly covered the areas where she would strike with an extra thick layer of chakra; his neck, his stomach, his heart, and all of his limbs.

He closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact. Before he even had time to blink, Naruto felt seven simultaneous hits. It sent him rearing backwards. Naruto counted each tree he smashed into; "O_ne, two, three, four, five, six, ok screw it."_

When he felt the absence of motion, he cracked open an eye. "Is this heaven?"

Tai leaned onto the handle of her sword nonchalantly. "Nope, this is hell."

"Ah, thought so."

Hinata came running towards him at an insane speed. Naruto raised an eyebrow. She looked awfully angry. Was she going to hit him? He squinted his eyes shut; that woman could do some damage. So he waited for the pain…

And waited…

…and waited.

But it never came. His eyes shot open in surprise when he felt something warm on his face. As his eyes fluttered open, the first thing he saw was her hand, lightly touching his face. "Are you okay?" He gulped and nodded.

"I'm okay. Pretty good." She inspected his wounds, lightly rubbing the ointment onto his wounds. Did it sting? He didn't know. He was too surprised that she wasn't mad at him anymore.

Hinata's face soured immediately. She tore her gaze towards Tai, who looks oblivious. "Why're you staring at me like that, female?"

Hinata would've sweat dropped if she wasn't so angry. For the first time, she lashed at out at gray-eyed girl. "You nearly killed him? What if he didn't finish that jutsu in time?"

Her eyes betrayed her laid-back posture. "I have faith in him. Maybe you should too."

She seethed with anger. "Faith? You call that faith? Faith is when you trust in someone to be there for you, and keep their promises. Faith is when you can trust someone to make the right decisions. But faith is _not_ when you _hope_ someone will avoid getting cut to ribbons!"

"He's alive. I trust my judgment."

"Do you even care about him?"

She eyed the girl, her gray eyes grave and serious. "People have different ways of showing they care…"

Naruto was hopelessly lost in a situation like this.

"And besides…just because I'm not smothering him every second he's around doesn't mean I don't care. Sorry. Maybe I should try that someday."

He winced; that was going to far.

Hinata felt something inside her snap. She didn't know what it was, but she knew one thing; she needed to be alone. So she did what she was good at:

She ran away from it.

Naruto gave Tai a disappointed look, but her cold eyes yielded nothing. He turned in the direction she took off in and sped up to catch up with her.

"Hinata! Hinata!"

He heard the rustling of leaves behind him, and quickly turned around in the opposite direction. "Hinata!"

He caught something blue out of the corner of his eye, but only for a second. That was enough for him. He quickly whirled around and grasped one of her wrists without turning around.

She tried to pull and resist from behind him, but he held fast. The pain was searing where her wrist was, but that wasn't what hurt the most inside of her…

"Hinata!"

She couldn't answer him. She couldn't even turn around to face him. Not to mention she was caked in mud and scrapes from roaming around in a jungle-like forest.

"Why do you keep running from me?"

Hinata winced at how shaky his voice sounded. She turned around, ever so slightly, to lool at his back. His head was tilted downward. "Because."

"Hinata, talk to me. I can't have you running away from me without even an explanation. I…I need you."

The tears involuntarily seeped from her exhausted eyes. "That's why, Naruto-kun. That's why…"

"Why?"

"Because! Why don't you just push me away if you don't like me in that way! You keep drawing me closer, and I can't stand it. You keep…"

He whirled around and grabbed her other wrist. He pulled her closer, slowly, until his lips were mere centimeters away from hers. Hinata tried to will herself to pull away, but her will disobeyed her.

As his lips brushed softly against hers, Hinata felt herself deflate. It was what she wanted to badly, but also dreaded. Did he really like her? Or was he just playing with her? She didn't know…would she ever?

"…making me like you more each day. You make me like you…why?"

It was a bitter-sweet moment.

She forced herself to pry his hands off of her wrists. She stood before him, avoiding his gaze. She wouldn't let it melt her, not this time.

He watched as her back got smaller and smaller, until it vanished from sight altogether. "Because Hinata…I just wish you knew why."

Hey guys! Thanks for reading! I have another idea for a fic upstairs, but the pair is undecided. I thought about it, but decided I would let you guys pick the pairing. By the end of this fic, I will tally up your votes and pick the most preferred pairing. Now what are you waiting for, go vote! And while I have nothing against homosexuals, I don't write about them. But, I do relish a challenge, so try to think outside the box :D


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everyone. I'm estimating about two or three chapters after this one. Hope you like it. Enjoy reading! There is a fight scene, which I have never really been my area of expertise, but I try. Hope it's enough for you.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But oh, the possibilities 8D**

Chapter Five: Hurdles

Hinata took a few steps into the ocean. The currents gently tugged at her submerged ankles. She closed her eyes and breathed in the salty ocean breeze that tickled her nose hairs. By impulse her arms rose to her sides as far as they would go. She craned her necks as she tried to see over the horizon, but could not. Hinata stretched out her fingertips and reached for something in the distance that she was just out of her grasp.

The voice behind her startled her. She twirled around clumsily. With a muddy plop, she landed into the wet sand.

"Oops…"

"It's okay."

Kibatsu scratched at his neck and kicked at the sand. "So…how's…everything?"

In the distance, a seagull landed on a rock to preen its feathers. Kibatsu looked away as the large jaw of the shark broke surface. When he turned back, all that remained were a few feathers of the rock. Hinata sighed.

"…It's perfect."

"You know…Tai's not even that pretty. She's rail thin, her figure is nowhere near as voluptuous as yours, and she does this weird freaky laugh where every three seconds, she makes this mucusy noise with her throat. Hinata turned around to look at him.

Her faint smile was very forced. "Thanks…but we know that's not true."

He just shrugged. "I try…so why don't you?"

"What?"

"You're just giving up without a fight."

"A ninja has to know when the stakes are too high, or when to call a quits."

"I see…"

Hinata sat down on the shore, overlooking the great waves this country was named after. Kibatsu brushed off his pants and took a seat next to her. "Do you know anything about poetry?"

Hinata nodded. "I've read a few."

"Ever heard of Nurrna (a/n: okay, I know it's lame. But I can't help myself! XD Meh don't worry, I know I'm no poet.)?"

"Who?"

"She's an unknown, but talented nonetheless. She's so awesome! (Yah yah just don't stone me…) Care to hear a little something of hers?"

"Sure…"

He cleared his throat for a good half hour before finally getting started. Hinata thanked the poetry gods.

_Abandon all hope  
__All possibility, all determination  
__Let optimism fade away  
__Live as if you'll live forever  
__As if you'll always have time_

_Like your loved ones will always wait  
__Live as if tomorrow were everyday  
__That your chances would never cease  
__That you'd have no regrets  
__Live like you can pretend everything is nothing_

_Reside in denial like a coward, without goals  
__Without ambitions for tomorrow  
__Leave behind withered, forgotten dreams  
__Avoid the treacherous routes and take the safe paths  
__Avert all risks and danger_

_Live so that you will never be disappointed  
Live so you will never get hurt  
Never let your hopes soar, to spare them pain  
Never be satisfied with life_  
_Live so you'll never embrace life's potential_

_Taking risks means a possibility of failure  
__Live without failure and heartache  
__And you'll live without fulfillment  
__You'll live as if you're already dead  
__So run from the danger and evade perils_

_Run into the wind and disappear  
__Be forgotten after death  
__Live as if you will always have time  
__Like your life is infinite  
__And live **ignorantly**_

He stole a sideways glance at her to see her reaction. She looked…dead.

Hinata sat there, feeling a familiar mix of shame, anger, frustration, and humiliation rise through her until it consumed her. As she stared ahead of the waves, Hinata felt something slip away from her. She felt relieved, and exhaled, red in the face. She realized that while he recited that poem by heart, she hadn't once let go of her breath; those words took her breath away. _You'll live as if you're already dead…_

She eased herself up and stared once again beyond the horizon. Lifting her arms and stretching her fingers Hinata thought, maybe it was in her reach. Maybe she could get to it. But would she ever find out if she never tried?

With a little scream, she ran, leaving a very puzzled Kibatsu behind. He watched her run head on towards the towering waves that crashed onto the shores like thunder. No…she wouldn't. It was irrational; it was painfully unthinkable; it was…_reckless._

Diving straight into a wave, Hinata let the currents drag her body into a million different directions. Kibatsu bit his fingernails until he was down to the enamel. He hoped he didn't drive someone to suicide.

As the massive wave crashed into the ocean a few yards back, Kibatsu watched se her dark-blue head emerged amid the bubble and froth. She rested on her back and spread her limbs out, soaking in the afternoon sunlight. The water was cold enough for her to jump out of her own undergarments, but she liked the way it felt. Closing her eyes, she felt the ocean lift her body, making her feel weightless, towards the horizon.

Kibatsu made a little tally mark in a black notebook and smirked. "That leaves four-hundred and ninety six successes, and two failures. Keep this up, and I might just win the therapist of the year award!"

But winning that ridiculous, nonexistent trophy should have been the least of his worries. For in the bushes were three mysterious figures, grinning maliciously.

Kibatsu stormed into her room, glaring at her. She looked up with the usual unresponsive expression. "Yah?"

"Do you enjoy tormenting people?"

"Yah…but I'm trying to cut back. It's so annoying when they cry." He stared down at her like a parent.

She let out a big sigh. "What's it to you, anyway? Do you have a crush on Naruto as well?" She drew a little rainbow with her two index fingers.

"NO! Though he does have nice hair…BUT! Don't you even feel a little bad for her? She was dragged here on a mission; she didn't ask for all of this…bleck."

Tai shrugged. "Would it make a difference if I felt bad?"

"I suppose not…"

"Exactly."

"Tai…"

"What?"

"You really don't change, do you?"

"No…I like myself too much to change. Even for you. Sorry, male."

"Yah…I thought so." When he left, she felt herself slump over in her chair. And she allowed herself to, just for a split second, feel a little bit of guilt and remorse.

Hinata collapsed onto the sand in exhaustion. She rolled around, coating herself like a sugar doughnut. "I am going to go tell him," she said to no one in particular. It was more to reassure herself.

"I don't care if he doesn't feel the same. Because…I'll like him anyway. That's what's really important, right?"

Getting to her feet, she took off into the tree…

…only to turn back. She dove into the ocean and came back out. She couldn't go talk to him looking like a sugared pastry, after all.

Jumping from cloud to cloud, Hinata would've felt light, except for the feeling that she was being followed. She activated her Byakugan discreetly and studied her rear. _"Damn. There's three of them. One to the right, another to the left, and one directly behind me. Each approximately fifty yards away."_

Hinata ran through her options. 1) She could try and outrun them. But that wouldn't work. There were three of them; one of them was bound to catch her. 2) She could set up a trap, and lure them into it. No way, that never worked. 4) She could wait until she was close to their camp site, and yell for help. Yah, and have someone rescue her? Not this time. So that left option 5…

She stopped in her tracks and turned around. She waited impatiently as they caught up to her.

"So we're correct. You _are_ a Hyuga."

"…Unless you've seen anyone else with white eyes." Hinata usually wasn't one for sarcasm, but she was in a hurry, and they were in her way.

"Oh, she's a feisty one. I want to eat her…then lick her bones. It will taste good…"

Hinata heard a female voice sigh. "No eating. We have other motives…"

Three pale, thin people clad in tight black spandex-ish material closed in on her. One was a woman with two red kodachis. The other was a gaunt, tall man who looked very calm and calculated. The last was a hunched man wearing a thick black cloak; he licked his lips every time he looked at her. "She even looks delicious…"

The woman pocketed her kodachis smugly. "Looks like I won't even need these."

She cringed at his voice; it sounded like nails against a chalkboard. The man rolled his eyes. "Nothing personal, but-"

"We just need to cut you into a million pieces to uncover the secrets of the Byakugan." Hinata voiced in a low, manly voice. "Am I right?"

He stared at her blankly. "I suppose this isn't new for you."

"Nope."

The woman scoffed at her. "What a thin little girl. Will she even provide as a decent test subject?"

"I don't know…you tell me." Hinata pounced at the one who kept licking his putrid lips. She gentle fisted him behind the neck near his hunch; that was where all of his chakra reserves joined. His legs wiggled like jelly; he went down like a sack of bricks. She wasted no time: one minute he was fine, next minute he had a kunai implanted into his head. The blood trickled down his forehead, soaking the earth beneath him.

The woman's cruel, violet eyes narrowed. "What a cheap shot."

"I've got places to go. I can't wait around and chat all day.

Her violet eyes bulged with anger. Making a few hand seals, she bit into her thumb and slammed it onto the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

As the ground quaked, a grotesque, blood-stained wolf emerged from the earth. Its eyes were a weird purplish-black. It howled, then charged at her, rearing it's pointy-bloody teeth.

Hinata gathered chakra into her hands and brought the together. Forming hand seals, a large, thin line of glowing blue chakra formed into a linear shape between her hands. "This is a test run-I just made this jutsu. You tell me how it does." The thin spear of chakra started bursting spontaneously into blue flames that crawled onto the spear. Within seconds, the whole spear was engulfed by the blue flames. "Okibi-Nageyari no Jutsu (Blazing Fire Javelin Technique)."

As the grotesque beast closed in on her, Hinata reared her arm back and hurled the flaming spear towards it. The javelin struck the animal between its eyes. It penetrated the skull, and pierced all the way through the wolf's lower back.

"What a mediocre technique…after all, it only killed the distraction." Hinata whirled around and gentle-fisted the woman's arm in time. The blade loomed dangerously close to her face, then fell to the floor.

"Raikou Ganmoku (Lightning Core)." Hinata cursed as the man drew the lightning into his fingertips. The lighting crackled around him, swirling into a gigantic ball of lightning. She could smell the volts in the heavy air. "You didn't forget me, did you?"

"Hakkeshou Kaiten: hankou bunka (divine spin: counter-offensive division)." Hinata spun around as the lightning collided with her. As it fought to penetrate her defense, Hinata spun faster, absorbing the lightning. It spiraled into a large hurricane around her. Hinata, still spinning, sprang to her feet and dived into the thin man. She silently thanked Kiba for all those Gatsuga demonstrations.

Hinata rammed into him. She turned to block a punch from the woman and blocked all her openings; that man wouldn't be down for long.

As the man attacked her from the rear, Hinata felt trapped. She was doing alright so far, but she couldn't keep up with the both of them. As the broke out into an all out brawl, nobody gained an upper hand. Hinata was average in the Taijjutsu field; she couldn't win against two people.

She tightened the muscles in her back and allowed herself to be kicked. She used this diversion to Jyuken the man in the side, temporarily knocking him down. It would only be for a few seconds, but that was all she needed.

Falling into a state of tranquility, Hinata brought her hands together in an odd seal. As she cleared her mind of all thoughts, she filled them with complete mental focus and thoughts of confusion and agony. "Bokusouchi Ranshin (Pasture of Derangement)." Hinata had to admit, it was the one genjutsu she absolutely hated to use. It put any given target within a fair range into a state of intense mental derangement; they imagined millions of insets trying to eat their flesh. In most cases, the victims clawed at themselves, and even killed themselves in extreme cases.

Downside: it only worked on one person. The strange man fell to his knees, scratching at his skin furiously.. The woman stared at him with a confused expression. Though he was under no physical abuse, his sanity suffered many torturous ordeals. Within a few minutes, he looked like a bear had mauled him severely. He had thoroughly scratched and clawed at every surface of his skin. He was reduced to a red, bloody mess..

Hinata felt repulsed with herself for having to resort to such a torturous genjutsu, but this was a matter of survival. And she couldn't die just yet.

To save him some face and mental abuse, she brought out a kodachi and stabbed him swiftly in the stomach; he died immediately.

Hinata felt movement to her right and quickly threw herself out of the way. A blood-red kodachi was implanted into the ground where she used to be. Hinata quickly rolled herself up from the ground and brushed herself off.

"My my, you certainly have proved yourself to be quite a handful." She brought her two blades down in a jagged, unpredictable pattern. It was all Hinata could do with her kodachi to block her swift, furious strikes. By now, she was totally drained of chakra, she was exhausted, and her eyes were dropping. She willed herself to stay awake.

This woman was no stranger to weapons; Hinata roughly estimated that she could dish out four hits per second. Hinata felt herself losing ground; her thoughts snapped to the searing pain in her calve. The bright red fluid snaked down her leg. She quickly spun around on her heel to avoid another hit, and bended backward as the two blades cut through the air above her in a horizontal slash.

Little by little, Hinata could feel the grounded she walked on damped with blood; her blood. As the red blade snaked through the air, it came down into the side of her stomach. Hinata whipped around and yanked it out, wincing at the pain. She wielded it in her left hand and gained the offensive.

But she was already faltering from blood loss. Hinat felt the precious life seeping out of her body. And then she felt it; her body stopped. Hinata slumped over. Her assailant wasted no time. She ran in for the kill and plunged her thick blade through Hinata's stomach.

As a last resort, Hinata let her survival instincts kick in. In a flurry of rage and adrenaline, she curled her body like a spring and brought the two swords behind her, slicing her opponent's head off. It bounced a few times before rolling to a complete stop. Hinata stood there, panting heavily, slumped over: the victor.

She collapsed onto the floor into a ball. As the world went black for her, an image of her favorite blond head bled into her head, leaving a lasting impression.

I noticed some of you are confused. Rest assured, I will explain things in later chapters as thoroughly as I can. And just because, I'm so darn generous, today is double Thursday! That's right folks: two chapters in one day. I just thought it would be too torturous to leave this one on its own. Enjoy, on to the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

I'll skip the annoying message since I've already bored you with one today ;)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But I love that show (hey, I rhymed xD)**

Chapter Eight: Waves of Scarlet, Currents of Regret

Tai tapped her massive sword against her forehead rhythmatically. Naruto sat with his head leaned against the ceiling. The pitter-patter of the rain outside made an odd harmony with her sword percussions. Naruto felt an ominous feeling wash over him. Something urged him to step outside.

As soon as he stepped out, he jumped back into the tent. He stared in dismay as the rain brought with it a tide of blood. Contorting his face into disgust, he knelt down and brushed his hand against the blood.

Naruto felt time freeze as he remembered that day, so many years ago…

_Flashback_

_Naruto watched in slow motion as Hinata crumpled to the ground on her knees, then flopped over. His fingers got sweaty, sliding off of the rail. He looked on helplessly as the medics carried her battered up body away. He felt such a deep hate and repulsion towards Neji that he rarely experienced._

_Jumping from the rail, he landed in the arena where they had fought. He covered his hands in her fallen blood and clenched it in his fist. "I'll defeat him for you…I promise."_

_End Flashback_

Naruto stared at the blood in horror as in flooded the entire area. He knew it was Hinata's; he just knew. He ran inside the tent and grabbed Tai and Kibatsu. "Hinata. It's Hinata's blood."

Tai looked at him blankly. "Must I?"

"Yes." She grunted as she hoisted herself up and smacked Kibatsu in the head.

"If I have to come, so do you." They had to speed up to catch up with Naruto, who was already halfway into the forest. Tai ran at a fair pace and spotted a patch of blood darker than the others. She poked into a clearing and saw the girl in question. She grabbed Kibatsu by the collar, who was huffing like an asthmatic. "Go get him - -."

Naruto followed Kibatsu and charged at Hinata with such ferocity that Kibatsu winced at the trees that shuddered when he ran past them. He threw themselves down near Hinata's body, kicking the decapitated head out of his way.

"Hinata…does any of you know any medical jutsu?"

"Me." Kibatsu raised his hand.

"Get over here." He trudged over and examined the girl with a scanning jutsu. Kibatsu shook his head.

"I can't fix her like this. She's lost far too much blood. The only thing I can think of is…"

Naruto whipped out a kunai and plunged it into his shoulder blade. Kibatsu ran over and brought out a small plastic container, shielding it with an umbrella from the rain. "Make sure it stays clean." Naruto nodded as he placed the container against his arm. He watched as the bright red liquid spilled from him.

Kibatsu watched as he repeatedly had to stab himself to keep his wound open. For some odd reason, his wound was healing itself at a super-human rate. Kibatsu winced every time he heard the sound of metal cutting through flesh. Naruto maintained a calm, relaxed face as he leaned against a tree, watching the blood go higher, drop-by-drop.

"You'll bleed to death."

"I'm fine. Go over there and clean some of her wounds."

"The rain does it."

Naruto gave the girl a confused look.

She shook her head slowly. "Look. Her mouth is-"

"Open…" Naruto recalled the day he had told her about that. As she lay there, looking peaceful, Naruto watched as the drops flooded into her mouth.

Tai shook the drops from her head in vain. "I don't remember who told me this…but the rain cleanses you. If you open your mouth, like this, and let the rain fall, you'll be cleansed and pure. Your soul will be refreshed…some mumbo-jumbo like that."

He nodded in agreement. Tai watched gravely as Naruto's blood threatened to overflow from the container.

Kibatsu snatched the jar away from him, careful no to spill any. "Any more, and you'll be dried up like a prune." Naruto tried to protest, but Kibatsu punched him atop the head and shushed him. Naruto gathered the blood in one of his hands. Tai watched from behind a tree, never looking away from him.

As Kibatsu extracted the damaged tissue from her and mended some, he did a blood transfusion. Her slow, tired heart quickly accelerated, welcoming the new blood hungrily. Kibatsu wiped the sweat from his brow and took out a few pills. He threw them to Naruto. "It'll help you generate blood faster."

Tai narrowed her eyes. "Why didn't you feed them to the female?"

"It doesn't work fast enough to help someone in fatal condition." She turned away, looking aimlessly at the sky.

"She'll be fine Naruto. Stop looking like someone rammed a stick up your ass."

He tried to laugh; Naruto cracked on the high pitches, creating a disturbing noise. Sliding down the tree, he allowed himself to sleep. She was going to be okay…"

It had been four days since Naruto and Hinata were brought to the tent. They had yet to wake up.

Tai strummed her fingers onto her sword: she was nervous. "What's wrong?"

She looked down at her toes. They were crusted with mud. "Nothing."

"…You can't hide this forever."

"I can sure as hell try." He shrugged and left. Tai went back to drumming her fingers onto the cold, steel blade. "I want to tell you, Naurto…so badly." _"Maybe I will…when you wake up."_

Naruto heard the rustle of blankets beside him. He got up from his blankets and look to his left. She woke up, curling her toes and stretching her back. Yawning, she turned to face Naruto and smiled faintly. "I'm not dead, am I?"

"I sure hope n-"

Hinata's brow furrowed. "What? What's wrong? Oh no…am I really dead?" Naruto felt himself hyperventilating. This wasn't happening…he did not just see what he thought he saw…

Naruto rubbed at his eyes viciously, and looked at her again. No…way... He was probably just high on the drugs they fed him. It had to be…This wasn't happening. Not here, not now, not ever. With a quivering hand, Naruto grabbed Hinata's chin and turned it to the left. He looked at her face, trying to rub something off. But it stayed put…

The whisker on her left cheek tormented him; she had the blood of Kyuubi flowing through her veins. The lines around her eyes were more heavily defined. He…turned her into the monster that everyone thought he was. Naruto grabbed his blankets. Huddling in the farthest corner from Hinata, he burrowed himself in his blankets.

"What have I done?"

Hinata was now panicking; she watched helplessly as he shook under the blankets. She would ask him why on earth there was a whisker on her cheek, and then he would tell her. And she would ran away from him like they all did…his head felt faint as it shuddered against the wall.

Slowly, she went over to where he was and tried to touch his shoulder gently. Naruto twisted out of her grasp. "Get away."

"N-Naruto-kun…please…"

"Just get away from me. Run! Don't ever come near me again." He thought of the worst case scenarios: the village would notice the whisker on her cheek, and mistreat her. As if she didn't get enough shit from her parents, now all the villagers would treat her like a monster. And he caused it…his actions had been so careless. Now Hinata would pay the price.

Hinata gulped and tried once again to approach him. "I'm sorry Hinata…I'm…I'm sorry. I just want…you…to…live. But now, it'd be better if you didn't. Damn!"

Kinbatsu and Tai stormed in. "What is going on?" They turned and looked at a very worried Hinata. The single whisker on her cheek line that ran upwards under her eye made them freeze in their tracks. They understood.

Kibatsu brought his hands out in front of him. "Naruto…everything will be fine. She's still Hinata, and you're still Naruto. Just come out." Naruto's blood boiled with anger. Didn't they realize that extent of what was happening? That she would be branded for life? And he was going to lose one of his best friends…forever.

As the anger consumed him, Naruto's eyes turned into slits, as his fangs and claws morphed. The whiskers darkened on his cheeks, and the red hue bled through his blue eyes.

An explosion. That's all that they could describe it as. One second, Naruto was huddled in his blanket, and next thing, the whole room was filled with a red demonic chakra that shredded everything in its path. The blanket around him disintegrated. The cloud of red chakra sliced through everything; even Kibatsu. As for Hinata, the blood of Kyuubi that flowed through her veins prevented her from any harm. It simply felt like a hot wind billowing through her hair.

Kibatsu wasn't as fortunate. There were cuts all over his skin, and a large gash in his arms. Luckily, he had built up a thin layer of chakra that had prevented the worst of it. Tai tried to coax him batting away the hot wind in her face.

"Naruto…just please tell me. What's going on?"

He turned around to face her. She took a step back at his new appearance, but stayed firm. "Tell me…"

"You'll hate me…"

"Just tell me. I won't hate you." _"I don't think it's possible for me…"_

Naruto looked at Tai desperately, but she just shook her head. _"Is this is? The thing I've tried so desperately to hide for fifteen years? I guess she deserves the truth…doesn't she?"_

"Hinata?"

"Yes?"

"You remember the day that when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha? October 10th?"

"Yes…"

"What's my birthday?"

"October…10th."

"Same day…what a coincidence, huh?" Hinata fell silent. "That day…when we ffound you in the forest. You needed a blood transfusion. So I-"

Naruto felt his throat tighten. He swallowed a few times. "…I gave you my blood. The Kyuubi's blood…"

Hinata didn't get it. What did that have to do with anything?

He grabbed a mirror and held it up to her face. She gasped as she stared at the whisker marred onto her cheek, and her black-lined eyes. The mirror fell out of her hands and cracked into a million pieces.

He turned away. "I can't stand the fact that people will treat you differently…"

The shock wore off from her as her fingers gently ran over the whisker line. Kibatsu slowly tip-toed out of the room. Tai did the same, after hesitating for a few moments.

"I don't care how they treat me…as long as…"

"…you're there with me."

"People will stare at you. They'll glare at you for no reason. And they'll run away from you."

She slowly made her way and hugged him from behind, clasping her hands at his stomach. "That's all fine with me…as long as you don't run from me."

Hinata felt the air cool down as Naruto's cloud of chakra died away. "You…don't hate me?"

"I'll never hate you. So don't feel bad. You saved my life after all."

Naruto turned around and slid down the wall, bringing her down with him. He drew her closer and, ever so softly, put his lips to her forehead. "I'll protect you from anybody who makes you feel the way I have. I'll do anything, Hinata. Anything."

"Anything?"

"Yes."

"Will you…" Hinata bit her bottom lip. It's do or die.

"…love me?"

He looked at her carefully. "I always have. Always will."

"But…"

He stopped her with a finger and sighed, shaking his head. "I can't choose between you two; I really wish I could."

"I see…"

"Hinata, I love you both in different ways. I could never love anyone else in the same way I love Tai, but the same goes for you too. I love you in a way that a man loves a woman. For Tai…it's a different love. I hope you understand…it's hard for me to explain. There's just something..."

"I don't want you to have to choose. As long as I know you're there…don't ever leave."

He smiled wearily and drew her closer for another tight embrace. "No matter what, know that you're 'The One' that those cheesy chick flicks are always going on about."

Hinata still didn't fully understand everything. But he said he would always be there for her. And for her, that was enough.

It'll either be one or two more chapters. It all depends on the way this goes. Thanks for reading, you guys rock! My overall goal for this is maybe 50 reviews by the end. Let's see if I can do it :D

TO rain of sorrow: I'd like to thank you for noticing that, means you're reading carefully  I am aware of the whole blood transfusion process, how AB is the universal recipient, and O is the universal donor (if it isn't negative. Man I hated Bio last year, its very tedious - -) but if I mentioned that, it just wouldn't work for the story. Unless I had some random whacko person come along, I just chose to omit that ordeal. I hope you understand why id didn't follow the rules. Thanks for letting me get that out of the way :)


	9. Chapter 9

I think there will be one last chapter after this. Again, I want to thank everyone who read, even if they didn't agree with the pairing. So many people today base the quality of a fic based on the pairing, which I personally disagree with, but I'm just ECSTATIC that some of you wrote in reviews how you would continue reading anyway. Thanks for understanding. I have a feeling this chapter will be met with some complaints…oh well I can't force you to like it T Hope most of you enjoy it. I'll most likely have the epilogue done tomorrow. Toodles!

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. But man, those whiskers are mighty fine! (look, I rhymed!)**

Chapter Nine: Second Thoughts

Tai walked into Hinata's room; her usual air of confidence and intimidation was gone; she was staring at her toes. "We need to talk, Female. Hinata."

She sighed, dropping the strands of hair that she was fiddling with. "Okay."

She followed the girl outside. Tai sliced the trunk of a very tall, very old tree and pushed it aside. She plopped herself onto the freshly made tree stump. "You want one too?"

Hinata looked at the squirrels that were squeaking angrily at Tai. "I think I'll sit on the ground…right here."

"Suit yourself." She played with her fingers for a while. As Hinata opened her mouth to speak, Tai monotonously said, "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"Don't make me say it again; I'm not that sorry."

"Right…but for what?"

"I guess I've got a lot of explain, right? Well it all started…since the beginning of time for me. I vaguely remember living on the streets by myself. I did have a pet cat with me at some time or another. It died."

She cleared her throat. Hinata waited patiently; she knew these were one of those times where she just needed to sit and listen. "Then…one day, a nice old man saw me sitting in the cold, with one foot in the grave. He took me in. He was the nicest person in the world, except for his idiot, redheaded son. Anyways, I went to ninja school like all children. Kibatsu's old man? Yeah, it's actually very funny. He's the Raikage. So, of course, as an infant I spend a lot of time in his office."

"One day, I was about nine. I was playing with my sword when I noticed that the drawers were all opened a crack. Even the top-secret files. So, I couldn't resist when I found a file about me in there. I wasn't ready for what I found…"

(Ink blot) Tai:

Origins: Konoha

Parents: (Ink blot ink blot)

Date of Birth: October 9th

Blood type: AB

Sibling: Twin brother, (ink blot) Naruto, DOB October 10th

"I remember crunching up that piece of paper, too angry to read the rest. I ran to Old Man Raikage, and demanded answers."

_Flashback _

_She threw a crumpled piece of paper at him, seething with anger. "Tell me!"_

_He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. "I see Kibatsu thought it was time to open the files. He's wrong; you're not ready yet."_

"_What are you hiding? Who are my parents? How come I never knew I had siblings? Give me answers!"_

"_You'll find nothing but pain."_

"_Tell me…or I'll hate you forever." The old man looked at her wearily. He had great affection for the little girl. He liked to pretend she was one of his own. _

"_I guess I can't have you hating me…"_

"_I have to know…I don't care if it's bad. It's better than having no identity at all."_

_He sighed. "As the document stated, we traced your routes to Konoha. They refused to tell us the identity of your parents, but they did mention you had a brother: Naruto."_

"_Then why am I here? Why aren't I living with my parents?"_

_This was the hard part. "We don't know. We assumed that you…were abandoned at birth." _

_She felt all her love for the world disappear into the murky corners of her mind. "If I have a twin…why am I older?"_

"_You and Naruto were born on different days. You, with the setting of the sun, at 11:55 P.M. Naruto was born on 12:03 A.M., with the dawning of a new day."_

"_What is this mark on my neck?"_

"_Something…I can't tell you. But just know that your brother is…different. He had something sealed inside of him, but it was just a bit too much for him to contain. So they added a part of it to you."_

_So once again, she was stuck with the leftovers._

"_They didn't want me? They just wanted Naruto…?"_

"_We really don't know, dear. But there are people here who love you…just like family."_

_Tai smiled as she left the room. As soon as she stepped out, the smile on her face mutated into a look of hate and repulsion. "Naruto…you took my family away. I'll never forgive you; I'll kill you…then I'll take back what's mine."_

_End Flashback_

"I was a child then; I didn't know any better. So now you know; that's why I called you out here. To kill him." Hinata's face was pale and void of any color. "You can imagine my shock when he told me he didn't have family. All those years, I imagined him, living happily with the real family I never had. And he was suffering even worse than I was…"

"B-But you said you were a year younger…"

She shrugged. "I lied." Tai wondered how lying came so naturally to her. Then she remembered her childhood, so full of lies.

"Tai…"

"I'm sorry I was so rough on you, fe-I mean Hinata. I guess I was kind of jerk-ish."

"But…why?"

She shrugged again. "Can't have any old floozy hanging around my little brother. Not…that you're a floozy. But hey, you can never be too sure."

"What made you change your mind?"

"I thought Naruto really didn't love you; he was just in love with that pretty little face of yours. But I saw how he sacrificed his blood for you. And…it's the real deal. Sorry I was hard on you, kid."

"I get it…"

"What?"

"Why he loves you so much…why he never looked at anyone the way he looked at you…"

"?"

"Because…it's the first time he ever saw _real_ family. Right before his eyes."

They were complete opposites: Naruto, with his light hair, bright eyes, and sunny attitude. Tai with her dull eyes, dark hair, and glum behavior. One child born in the dead of night, the other born with the arrival of day. Together, sitting side by side, the two met one other like Day and Night.

"Yeah. Me and him. We're like this." She crossed her index and middle finger in that cheesy, we're-best-friends way.

"I wish I understood…"

"Yeah."

"WAIT!"

Tai jumped up and slid off of her tree stump backwards, crushing the angry squirrels. "You're going to end up on my hate list again Female…"

"Gomen…but does Naruto know?"

"He knows somewhere in the back of his microscopic brain that we have a connection. But does he know we're twins? No."

"Why? Why haven't you told him?"

Tai made a scary, beastly face and growled. She clawed her fangs at Hinata. "You saw him go all demon. He has enough on his plate already; new girl, the whole demon thing. This will give him too much to handle. Imagine, some person knocking on your door, saying, "Greetings, stranger! I'm your twin! Hee hee hee!"

"But…"

"I'm not ready. I cant; at least not yet. Besides, I've found him. He's not going anywhere. I have him wired, anyway."

"Wired?"

"You know what satellites are? Oh, never mind. Bottom line: you can expect a drop in from Big Sis sometime in the near future." Hinata jumped to her feet and hugged the strange girl, crushing her.

"Hey, I don't like you that much! You're still on the chopping block, and you're about to fall back to my 'kill' list!" Hinata let her go. She fell to the ground in an unseemly way.

"Thank you…"

"For what?"

Hinata shrugged. "I don't know. But thanks." Tai butted her in the head with the handle of her sword.

"Yeah yeah. You're not so bad yourself I suppose…"

Tai flipped through a scroll. "Mission's over kids."

"What? Eleven months early?"

She glared at him. "Would you rather be dead?"

"WELL it's been great working with you!"

Hinata looked at Tai and gave her a small but sure smile. Tai smirked a little and nodded at her. She then turned to Kibatsu and bowed. "Thank you for everything, Kibatsu-san. And for saving my life."

"Oh, my pleasure!" He grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Don't forget me, beautiful!" Tai kicked him in the side.

"Sorry, she's off the markets." She turned to Naruto. "Isn't that right?" He nodded, his cheeks slightly pink.

"Well…this is it."

"You make it sound like I'm dying."

Naruto tried to keep himself from crying, resulting in him puffing up like a blowfish. He turned around and wiped at the tears in his eyes, bawling like a baby. "Damn, why did you have you kick the dust, Kibatsu? My eyes are on f-fire." Kibatsu wore a confused expression.

"Who, me?"

Naruto wiped his nose with his sleeve. "You'll visit us, right? And write letters?"

"If I feel like it. Or if I find any stamps."

He jabbed his index finger in her face. "You better."

She jabbed her index finger into his, smiling faintly. "Don't threaten me. Or I'll kill you." She smiled happily, which looked foreign on her usually sulking face.

They stood there, fingers connected, staring at each other. Naruto felt something magnetic pulse through his finger, but couldn't quite name what it was.

"Don't go anywhere, Uzumaki. I'll come back for you someday. Little Bro…" 

She watched as the two walked away, hand in hand. Kibatsu leaned his head on her shoulder, which looked quite awkward, seeing as he was at least a head taller than her. Tai felt her shoulder shake.

"Are you crying?"

Kibatsu dabbed at his eyes with a tissue. "It's so beautiful! Like a movie or something." Tai's eyebrow twitched as she took a step to the left. He went crashing down.

"Oof."

As Naruto walked, he turned around one last time.

Tai gave him a big, genuine smile, and held up her thumb, but in the cool way (not the retarded Gai/lee good guy pose).

Hinata started swinging their hands, humming softly. Naruto looked back one last time. "What a weird girl, huh?"

She nodded, but smiled. "But…I think I like her."

"Me too. If she didn't try to kill me."

"So, how are we going to explain this to Hokage-sama?"

"Who, obaa-chan? Meh, we can do what we're best at: lying."

"I suppose."

An awkward silence proceeded. Naruto cleared his throat. "What should we do when we get home?"

"Maybe…we can go to the park…"

He liked where this was going. "And then?"

"We could…you know…check if the swings are open…"

"OR WE CAN KICK THE PEOPLE ON THE SWINGS OFF!"

She tried to give him a stern, punishing face but she laughed despite herself. "I guess we could…"

I'm sorry if I made you guys feel obliged to review. I really didn't mean to. But I appreciate every single review you send me, even if it's a flame. Heck, at least you took time to flame me :D So thanks a lot for the support!


	10. Chapter 10

Omg everyone I am so sorry! I tried to upload this to my documents on Sunday, but I had these error crap things. It wouldn't work till today. Forgive me Dx Anyways…Hey everyone! I just want to thank all of you one last time for taking the time to read this. I know we're all busy and short on time, so that means a lot to me. And thanks to those who review; without ya'll, I would probably be too much of a loser to continue. So yah, you guys are AWESOME! I don't know when my next fic will be out. But it will be started in a week. So keep a look out!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Or else Hinata would ditch the stupid parka. It ain't that cold.**

Chapter Ten: Take Small Steps

Sakura, Ino, and Tenten went on their usual Saturday night outing. They sat in a booth, glancing at their menus.

Ino let out a sigh. "It's so quiet without Hinata here. Even if she never talks."

"Yeah…I just hope they get back soon. I refuse to go on another spying mission with Neji."

Putting her menu down, Ino got a mischievous look in her eyes. "Do you guys think…they did anything…_impure?_" she said with quotes around the last word. Sakura look horrified.

"Oh for goodness sakes! Get your mind out of the gutters!"

"I'm just saying…they did look awfully friendly that day at the swings." Sakura recalled how they had been spying on them behind a tree.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Oh come on…it's not like anything happened. They rode on the swings, jumped, woo hoo. You see kindergarteners doing the same thing."

"But they aren't kindergartners."

"…Maybe you do need to get your mind out of the gutters. Or, it could be that you're just reaaaally lonely."

Ino raised one of her eyebrows. "Wait a minute, what do you mean…nothing _happened?_"

"…What?"

"So what 'happens' when you and Hyuga are together…_alone?"_

Tenten puffed up like a red marshmallow. "I am not going to lose my dignity by answering such a childish question!" Ino snickered evilly.

The waitress walked up to their table. "Hey, ladies. Are you ready to order some drinks?"

"Yes, please."

She held up a drink menu. "We have Coke, Sprite, Minute Maid Orange Soda, pink lemonade, Dr. Pepper, or root beer."

Tenten ordered a pink lemonade while Ino ordered a Coke.

The waitress turned to Sakura. "What about you, miss?"

She stared at the menu intently. "Hey, guys, should I get a Dr. Pepper, or a Sprite?"

"I don't know. What do you want to, you know, drink?"

Sakura stared at the menu blankly. After a good ten minutes, the waitress laughed nervously. "Erm…why don't I just…bring both, and see which you like better?"

Tenten sighed with relief. "Oh yes! Thank you."

When the waitress walked away they both turned to her. "What's wrong with you?"

"Um…um…"

"Never mind…"

In a few minutes the waitress returned with a bottle of Dr. Pepper and a bottle of Sprite. "Have you…made up your mind?" _"I better get some damn good tips, or I'm spitting in your food girly."_

Sakura looked to the black bottle of Dr. Pepper, then shifted her gaze to the green Sprite bottle. She could feel herself getting sweaty. Ino and Tenten gave her a puzzled look. "N-NOTHING! I DON'T WANT A DRINK! IM NOT THIRSTY! WHO SAID I HAD TO BE? WHY DO I HAVE TO PICK A DRINK? NOTHING! I WANT NOTHING!"

The waitress took a few steps back with her hands in front of her defensively. "O-Okay…no one said…you …had to get…can I get another waiter here?" She retreated to the back of the restaurant.

She could feel two pairs of eyes, along with a few others from surrounding tables, staring at her. Trying to think of an explanation to her outburst, Sakura looked around wildly. Sakura nearly jumped from her seat when she found a diversion. "L-look! It's Naruto and Hinata, over there! Together!"

Tenten and Ino turned around in their chairs to verify it. Their jaws dropped to the floor.

Naruto and Hinata sat across from each other, staring at each other over the rims of their menus. Their waiter sweat-dropped as he waited for them to order. They had been locked in an intense gaze for at least ten minutes, and it didn't look like they'd order anytime soon.

"Oh my gosh! It looks like they're on a date! I guess it's not time to say hi yet." Tenten turned to her left when she heard some evil laughter.

Ino threw her head back and laughed manically, flailing her arms. "What did I tell you! They've been doing 'impure' things! I knew it knew it knew it!"

Sakura thwarted her with her salad fork. "Idiot! They're not even doing anything. All they're doing is staring at each other. People stare at Ino's pig-face on a daily basis."

Tenten sighed dreamily. But just look at the way they're looking at each other. Sakura blinked a few times.

"I don't see anything."

Next to her, Ino nodded in agreement. "Me neither. The glare from your forehead is obscuring my view."

"Grrr…..Ino-pig!"

"Forehead girl!"

Naruto frowned. "Do you hear cats in the background?"

Hinata didn't look away from him. "I don't hear anything."

Under the table, Hinata could feel something brush against her foot. Her face flushed. Naruto grinned at her foxily. "Me neither."

Tenten got out her cell phone and hit number one on her speed dial. "Neji?"

"Yes Tenten?"

"Are you busy?"

"No. Is that cats I hear in the background?" Tenten looked down; Sakura was on top of Ino, twisting a salad fork in her hair.

"No, not the bangs! You're tangling my bangs!"

Tenten sighed. "Err…yeah. Want to catch a movie or something? Suddenly my schedule filled up."

"Okay."

"I'll meet you at the theater. Bye!" Tenten hung up her phone and walked out, jumping over Ino and Sakura. They were too busy pummeling everyone and anyone who got in their path to notice she was ditching them. As innocent civilians ran out of the building screaming for their lives, Naruto and Hinata walked out hand in hand, skipping.

Hinata stopped in front of her door. She fiddled with her keys.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. He tried to remember what Shikamaru told him fiddling keys meant. He snapped as he remembered. Naruto sauntered over to her, closing the gap in between them. Hinata closed her eyes.

Her foot felt cold all of a sudden. She sweat dropped when she looked down; Naruto was removing her sandals, and proceeded to give her a foot massage. He smiled up at her, giving her a thumbs up.

She scowled and yanked her feet away from him. "Naruto, why are you giving me a foot massage…on my door step?"

"Because. Shikamaru told me that when a girl fiddles her keys, she wants a foot rub." Hinata sighed. She reached up and gave him a small peck on the lips. Naruto circled his arms around her, pulling her closer. She let her hands go to his sides, holding onto them gently.

"…Does this mean you don't want a foot massage?"

Hinata flicked him on the head. "No, I don't want a foot massage."

Naruto scratched his head again. "Okay, my turn! I want a kiss. Right here." He pointed the bandage his cheek. Hinata crossed her arms. Naruto made pouty faces at her. "Come on, Hinata. Give me a kissie! Kiss my booboo!"

She was about to give in when the door slammed open. Naruto's face paled. "H-Hey there, Neji."

"Goodnight, Naruto."

Naruto turned around to go. When he was a few steps away, he turned around and gave Hinata a quick kiss. He then ran as fast as he could. While he ran, Naruto yelled out, "Tell Tenten I like her lip gloss! It looks good on you!"

Neji gave Hinata a confused look. She coughed a little and pointed discreetly to the smudge on the right corner of his mouth. He quickly rubbed at it then regained his cool guy pose. Hinata sighed.

When he was sure he was far enough from Neji, Naruto slowed to a nice, steady walk and shoved his hands in his pockets. He whistled happily as he strolled through the dark, empty streets.

From up ahead, two dark figures sat in a tree. A pair of bright green eyes studied Naruto intently. "Target approaching."

"Roger." The other hooded figure waited as Naruto unknowingly walked beneath the tree they were standing on. As he passed under the tree, one of the figures jumped.

Naruto turned around when he heard the rustle of leaves. No one heard the scream that escaped from his mouth.

Two small girls snuggled in their blankets in the dark, clutching their teddy bears. One was a black-haired girl with brown eyes. The one next to her was about two years younger. She had blond hair and pale, white eyes that almost looked blue.

The one with blue eyes tossed in her blankets. "Next week, you're going to come to our house to sleep over, right?"

"Yeah."

"Yay! Next week is cousin Yuuki's birthday!"

"Oh yeah."

"That reminds me. I was going to make him a card for his birthday."

"Okay."

"…What color were his eyes again?"

"I don't remember. I was only seven the last time I saw him."

"…But you are seven."

"I know. I saw him last week at the picnic."

"--"

"What, he's technically only your cousin."

"But daddy said we're all family."

"What ever."

"How am I going to draw a picture of him if I don't know what color his eyes are?"

"We have a picture of all of us in one of the hallways. It was taken last year."

The little blond girl jumped from her blankets. "Let's go!" She sweat dropped when she heard snoring. She gave her a quick kick.

"Come on!"

"Fine fine fine…"

They walked down a few long hallways. She stopped abruptly. "Mommy hanged the photo here."

"Okay."

There was a large portrait in a rich, mahogany frame. Four little eyes scanned it.

One woman with brown hair was holding a small black-haired girl in her lap, playing with her hair. Next to her was blue-haired woman rocking a sleeping blond haired baby in her lap. Last was a black-haired woman whose silver eyes glared at the three men wrestling in the background for the last piece of cake. She was feeding a black-haired boy from a bottle. His sleepy green eyes were halfway closed.

"Now I remember! They're green!" The older girl rolled her brown eyes.

"Yeah, you remember _after_ we walk all the way here." The two girls headed back to their rooms. One walked in a graceful, dignified manner while the other skipped, whistling a happy tune.

Outside, many miles away, a pair of intriguing silver eyes watched as the darkness faded away with the coming of the sun. As it set above the horizon, she could see a certain blond haired brother of hers. His face rose with the sun; the dawning of the day, as hers disappeared with the dark skies.

So this concludes Day and Night! Thank you again for reading; and the encouragement and support that motivated me to continue. I couldn't ask for nicer reviewers! Hope the ending does you justice. And thank you guys for getting me 50 reviews! That's more than I could ask for :D Also, pick a pairing for my next one! Do it!...Please? Bye beauitfuls:D


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